Weekly Round-up: 2 Feb 2025
All the latest news, events, and results from NFCC Members from this week’s two-wheeled adventures…
Gravel n GrogSeven riders rolled out for this week’s Gravel & Grog, enjoying a fairly mild evening despite the Forest tracks being thoroughly waterlogged. Fortunately, there were no mechanicals or punctures, making for a smooth ride. Phil G reluctantly took on the role of Exposure lights technical support, helping those struggling to decipher the notoriously unintuitive series of button presses and flashing LEDs required to set the appropriate brightness. A process only slightly less complex than arming a submarine’s self-destruct sequence. |
 Phil J’s mysterious pannier rack and dry bag became a topic of speculation—was he prepared for a bivvy, a gourmet picnic, or perhaps it was a life raft for the inky-black puddles swallowing sections of the trail? A great ride with good company—and thankfully, no need for emergency flotation devices! |
Thursday Evening Leeston Handicap: R14The local Club racing scene in Christchurch NZ is kept afloat by the Thursday Evening Leeston Handcap. A pacy 50km group ride heads out from the city picking up riders along the route to a small township called Leeston on the banks of Lake Ellesmere – eventually swelling to 60+ riders along the way – before an orderly queue is formed to sign up for the evening’s race – a short, sharp 17km chain-gang style handicap around some quiet, flat backroads of the township. Starting in the “Break” group – the second to last to start, 6 and a half minutes after the first riders off – Phill Brown worked with his 6-rider bunch to chase down two groups ahead in good time. A duo from the “Scratch” (the fastest/last) group caught Brown’s group and he was quick to jump on their wheel and make it past the rest of the riders on the road. The trio worked well together for the remainder of their ride, suddenly accelerating and catching Phill by surprise. By the time he spotted the finish flags in the distance, the sprint was well underway and despite his best efforts, catching two elite-level riders at full sprint was too much to ask and Brown crossed the line happily in third place. |
Saturday Club RideFirst ride in February and we were rewarded with a cold but thankfully dry day that was fine for winter riding. The planned route was 103Km around the forest. We were joined for the first time on Saturday by prospective new member James, recent joiner Will, and club stalwart Sam. Welcome to all and we hope to see you all again soon. The ride headed out in two groups and as usual when we go east, got caught by the level crossing in Brockenhurst so were a little behind schedule. Even with that delay, there were two riders who missed the start, Chris F and Smithy, so with all other riders being on their best behaviour all day, no mechanicals, no kit co-ordination fails, and good mudguard adherence to report these were the only misdemeanours of the day so it’s a week in the barrel for both of them. |
 Chris caught Group 2 at East Boldre and tried to bridge the gap to Group 1. Unfortunately, he was thwarted by the pace of Group 1 and some dodgy navigational skills so rejoined Group 2 for the rest of the day. He was a long way from home so struggling with the roads around the area referred to as Royston Vasey by some of the group who ride those roads regularly was excusable. Smithy had taken a shortcut to meet up with Group 2 and we found him heading north between Beaulieu and Lyndhurst. After leaving him out on the front on his own for a cruelly long time the peloton eventually absorbed him into the ranks. |
 Ascending Buddle Hill we passed club Cyclo Cross legend Catherine who was out for a run. We rendezvoused for coffee at The Potting Shed. Group 2 bang on forecasted time but Group 2 arrived just as Group 1 were leaving thanks to the lively pace of Group 1 this week. Inevitably being the Potting Shed we also met Richard P there on his daily visit. He spends so much time there that one of the cushions is permanently moulded to the shape of his derrière and only fits him now. After coffee, we started to shed riders. Group 1 did its usual second-half disintegration, Group 2 similar but a little more gradual. Group 2 split at Wilverley with Sean leading a small group astray for additional carbohydrate drinks at The Rising Sun. The bigger boy made us do it was the lame excuse from Ian and Phil J as they did their post-race recovery on what looked London Pride on the Strava post. Two reduced pelotons made it back to Brock without incident. Axum inevitably rounded up to 100 miles plus.Thanks to all for another enjoyable club ride.Barry – Barry |
Get Involved:If you find yourself out and about representing NFCC, don’t forget to jot down a few words, snap a few photos and send them over to press@newforestcc.co.uk. |
